Time reminds me that I am aging. My bones are not what they once were. My skin no longer supple and soft like a baby’s. One can fight but in the end one will lose. Life whispers that I should ignore the fight. The real question is about what I will do with the moment I have. The opportunity is now, not tomorrow or yesterday. The question is not about where the road might take me, but how I move in the step I am taking in this moment. Reality is the opportunity. Now is the time. Wherever I am is the landscape and context. Everything else is just that, something other than what is.
I am struck by the constants that anchor my life. At the top of the list is the truth found in the principles of compassion and community. Starting with these, I can see so much. It is here that I know that “when my skin sags and my bones get brittle, God is rock-firm and faithful.” (Psalm 73.26) It is here that I can see my calling and purpose. It is here that I hold the question and challenge of freedom.
Another constant is the way Hope is giving life through the actions taken by others. I may think I am alone, only to be reminded that Hope lives. An act of friendship gives birth to Hope. A decision of kindness nurtures Hope, letting it live to touch another life. My acceptance of Hope creates a new circle of life that will impact someone around me.
Choice and freedom are constants, even when we think we have none. We can offer friendship to those deserving as well as to those that would take advantage of us. We can give love through a smile and act of kindness to those we know as well as to strangers. In receiving these gifts, we are free to pass on more than we realize we have received. It is a cycle that will sustain itself long after we think we have exhausted our supply.
